SharkByte

I started smelling gas in the house last night so I looked checked the cars in the garage and found a puddle directly below the Fuel pump on my 81' Vette.

I put it up on stands, crawled under it and cleaned all the 25 years of road grime off the area earlier today. I've checked all the lines going into and out of the pump and none of them appear to be cracked or leaking however I'm getting about a drop a minute out of the area. The only thing I can think of is that the little lip around the top edge of the pump itself is leaking. Is this a common failure point for the fuel pump on an 81'? The engine runs fine so the pump is working and its getting plenty of fuel. Of course I can't run it with a gas leak

I went ahead and ordered a new pump from NAPA and it should be here at 9am tomorrow morning. Until then I just have to deal with the gas smell I guess

sperkins

Man that's crazy. I found the exact same problem on my '73 Olds 2 days ago. All the lines are tight. It's leaking from the factory crimp on the pump body. I've never seen this happen before. It's weird to hear you have the same problem.

SIXFOOTER

might want to park it outside for tonight. I had a diaphram leak one once, was shooting das out the vent hole on the side of the pump. Got the side of the motor nice and clean tho..

big_G

Do it NOW!

427SIXPACK

25 years of road grime....YIKES....? that kills me, might be a good excuse to clean the rest of the 25 year old gunk / grime under there.
and i'd listen to the above post & get it outside NOW, dont want a spark from any electical devices or an oil burner starting a fire / explosion in your garage !

SharkByte

Heh I've been scraping it little by little as I work on it for the last few years. So far I've rebuild the drive train from the back of the motor to the wheels so thats all clean, new rack and pinion and a lot of the front suspension has been done... pretty much the only thing left is the front side of the motor

Believe it or not, if I parked it outside tonight, by morning if its still there is won't have a radio, seats, carpet, wheels or motor anymore. Lompoc isn't exactly the safest place to park a car that draws any kind of attention I'd rather just deal with the gas smell and go open the garage door for ten minutes every two hours until the new pump gets here

Arcticshark

I had to replace the preformed rubber lines on my 77 last year. I was having the same problem. it was leaking gas in the area of the fuel pump, but I couldn't tell exactly where it was coming from.

Once I looked very closely at the lines, I could see some very fine hair line cracks. The lines were extremely dry rotted.

I replaced them with plain straight fuel line, because I didn't think I was going to be able to get the proper preformed ones. I was concerned about the generic line kinking at the 90 degree bends, but they didn't kink, and I have had no trouble with them since.

75coupered

Must be, mine just did the same thing, or at least two days ago, hunting down the gas leak smell until I found the pump, same thing, had already replaced the rubber lines 3 months ago, now it seems to be leaking from the crimpped lip of the body.

I've never seen this happen on any other Chevy fuel pump and as far as I can tell about the only difference in design is that most pumps are fed from the top, whereas these vette pumps come up from below, maybe this makes the crimpped seal more prone to failure.

Hate to say it, but I'm glad it has happened to others and it may serve as a diagnostic tool for others experiencing gas odors from the engine bay.

now time to order a new pump

MYBAD79

Remove the lines from the pump and plug them until you are ready to install the new pump.... the lines are not pressurized (it's a mech. pump)

7T1vette

Lines may not be pressurized...but the tank line sure will shoot a lot of gas quick, if you have a full tank. A rachet clamp or a set of vise-grips will keep the line sealed while you have it off.

I just put a new pump on my '71 SB coupe. The only job I've ever done where I busted more knuckles than there were bolts on the work! (two bolts; three knuckles cut...no room to wear gloves). Good luck on coming up with a small ratchet drive system that will fit those 9/16" bolts.

JIMS1970VETTE

Yes, I would leave the car outside as I was working under my 71 coupe and smelled gas then I heard that old drip,drip,drip then it started pouring out of my gas tank (about 12 gallons) and I just happened to be replacing a left rear parking light at the time. Thank god if I wasn't at home the garage would of been full as gas and fumes, and the pilot light on the water heater, well you get the idea- BOOM!!!!